21 July 2019
Lost Creek State Park: It continues to bring me much joy to go one mile more. Visited family in Hamilton Montana and it would be 1900 miles plus back to home beach. Late start and long good byes made it almost 11, but the Tortuga is not in a big hurry, but it would be nice to put a couple hundred miles in the rear view.
The calculation of where the Tortuga will be is pretty simple. Start with 50 miles per hour and every 4 hours add 1 hour for Tortuga Time. Not sure where that hour goes but it never fails there is a vortex that will suck it away from the initial plan. Fuel, bathroom breaks, pictures, throwing the tennis ball, it can be a number of things but always add a Tortuga hour for every 4 hours of driving time.
North to Missoula and take a right and that was all the Tortuga needed to know. Hey question? How long is 4 hours? There are times on the road where the hours slip away so quickly, as you get lost watching the world go by. Today it was a rolling country side with rivers and streams escorting the Tortuga east.
The 200 miles target would soon come up on the Tortuga so it was time to ASK GOOGLE! “Closest Park Near Me.” Well three popped up and what was interesting is that they were all 10 to 20 miles off the interstate.
Tortuga Thought, Interstates have left a lot of great suff to explore and history to relive off to the side.
The treasure of the day was Lost Creek State Park. More that 24 miles off the freeway and skirting a town of Anaconda Montana, From the flat lands of the freeway to the the foot hills of a National Forest. The approach was sketchy with random homes and lots not giving the slightest of hint of the treasure at the end of the road. The park started where the asphalt ended, That is Tortuga Time. Once inside the gates of the part the Park Host was sitting under a screened in awaning and the self serve check in awaited payment. The park is approximately 1 and half miles to end to end on a narrow dirt road with a stream alongside and steep rock escarpments on each side. The sign said “Anything over 30 foot long ill advised”. Pulling in, pay the fee and take a nap, That is living! The afternoon heat was starting to wane and it was now time to figure out what the park look like.. Knowing it was only a mile down the road to the end of the park, Lacy announced she was ready. This looks like a place focused on tent camping, small sits, narrow roads and very few turn arounds, it was clear this was not a RV bus parking lot, perfect for the Tortuga. Scatered sites each with a picnic table and fire ring, intermittent outhouses and one place where you can get portable water…It is a pretty cool little park. On the back site of the camp site loop was a sign leading all visitors to the jewel of the park. A mere 125 yards is the Lost Creek Water Fall. A short climb, up then under the pine canopy is a water fall cascading down and bouncing off a couple different rock outcroppings. The shade and the mist, dropped the temperature 10 degrees and it was not only spectacular it was refreshing. I thought I saw a smile on Lacy’s face on the way back to the truck.. One Mile More works!
